FLOORING PLANNING
How much flooring do I need?
Start with the room's square footage, add an appropriate waste allowance, then divide by the coverage printed on each flooring box.
Start with square footage
For a rectangular room, multiply length by width. A 12-by-10-foot room is 120 square feet. Flooring projects need some extra material for cuts, defects, layout, and future repairs, so the purchase quantity should normally be higher than the bare floor area.
Example with 10% waste
For a 120-square-foot room, adding 10% gives 132 square feet of planned material. If each box covers 20 square feet, 132 ÷ 20 = 6.6. Since flooring is sold by the box, round up to 7 boxes.
What can change the amount?
- Diagonal or complex layouts generally create more offcuts.
- Closets, alcoves, and connected spaces should be measured rather than guessed.
- Coverage per box varies by product.
- Keeping spare matching material can be useful for future damaged-board repairs.